European stocks close higher despite Fed comments rattling global markets; LVMH shares up 3%

This is CNBC's live blog covering European markets.

European stocks closed higher on Wednesday despite global markets being rattled by comments from the head of the U.S. Federal Reserve.

The regional Stoxx 600 index provisionally ended 0.2% higher, with the majority of sectors trading in the green. Household goods jumped 1.8%, while tech fell 2.6%.

Shares of luxury group LVMH climbed as much as 5.2% after the company posted modest first quarter sales growth, before paring gains. The stock provisionally ended 3.2% higher.

Fresh data showed U.K. inflation eased to 3.2% in March, slightly less than economists expected, as investors keep an eye out for signs of when the Bank of England may cut rates.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Tuesday that the central bank needs to see more progress on the inflation front before it's likely to begin cutting rates. He said there had been "a lack of further progress so far this year on returning to our 2% inflation goal."

Asia-Pacific markets were mixed after Tuesday's broad selloff, while U.S. stocks were mixed on Wednesday after the S&P 500 notched its third straight day of losses.

European markets closed slightly higher on Wednesday, with most sectors and major bourses in positive territory.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index provisionally ended 0.2% higher, with household goods up 1.8% to lead gains.

— Sam Meredith

The geopolitical situation in the Middle East poses the biggest threat to the European Central Bank's rate cut outlook, ECB policymaker Robert Holzmann told CNBC on Wednesday.

"At this stage, I think the biggest threat is geopolitics, because we have seen what's happened in the Middle East," Austrian central bank governor Holzmann told CNBC's Karen Tso on Wednesday. His comments